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title: "Good rat, bad rat; innovative trapping to protect Wedge-tailed Shearwaters on Australia’s Muttonbird Island"
---

# Good rat, bad rat; innovative trapping to protect Wedge-tailed Shearwaters on Australia’s Muttonbird Island

Frances Zewe ([Ecosystem Management, School of Environmental and Rural Sciences](http://www.une.edu.au/about-une/academic-schools/school-of-environmental-and-rural-science), University of New England, Armidale, Australia) and colleagues have published in the journal *[Australian Mammalogy](http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/256.htm) *on trapping alien Black Rats *Rattus rattus* but not native Swamp Rats *R. lutreolus* on a Wedge-tailed Shearwater *Puffinus pacificus* island.

 The paper’s abstract follows:

 “Novel bait stations can be used as a targeted method of delivering bait by exploiting behavioural traits of the target species.  On Muttonbird Island, New South Wales, the black rat (*R. rattus*) has been baited to aid the conservation of the island’s wedge-tailed shearwater (*Ardenna pacifica*) colony, which may result in poisoning of the sympatric swamp rat (*Rattus lutreolus*).  We aimed to design a bait station that *R. rattus* could reach, but that *R. lutreolus* could not.  We found that 11 (92%) of 12 captive *R. rattus* reached the bait chambers by climbing a 50-cm vertical pipe, whereas only four (18%) of 22 *R. lutreolus* reached these bait stations.  In a field trial on Muttonbird Island *R. rattus* entered the bait chamber on an average of 5.3 events per night of vertical bait station deployment, but *R. lutreolus* did not enter the stations.  In a field trial on the mainland at a site with a high density of *R. lutreolus*, this species was detected in one vertical bait station five times, equating to an average of 0.017 events per night of vertical bait station deployment.  We conclude that *R. rattus* readily climbs a 50-cm pipe to enter the bait station, whereas *R. lutreolus* rarely or never does on Muttonbird Island or at the mainland site.”

 ![](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Shearwaters/Wedge_tailed/wedge-tailed shearwater_alan_burger.jpg)

 Wedge-tailed Shearwater, photograph by Alan Burger

 **Reference:**

 Zewe, F., Meek, P., Ford, H. & Vernes, K. 2014.  A vertical bait station for black rats (Rattus rattus) that reduces bait take by a sympatric native rodent.  [*Australian Mammalogy* 36: 67-73](http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=AM13010).

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer , 19 August 2014*